


Worn Leather & Gunpowder

by knockoutqueenoftheunderworld



Category: High School Story (Video Game), Pixelberry
Genre: Author wrote this at 12 am, Clothes Sharing, F/F, Fluff, Getting Together, Pixelberry - Freeform, Possessive Koh, leather jacket
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-29
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-08-11 18:45:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7903588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/knockoutqueenoftheunderworld/pseuds/knockoutqueenoftheunderworld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"So... Anything you wanna tell us?"<br/>"Nothing, really," Kallie responded. "Our chemistry project went well."<br/>"Clearly," Wes muttered, a sly gleam in his eyes as he surveyed Kallie's clothing choice. Mia kicked him under the table. Wes cursed.<br/>"Language," Payton and Kallie chimed together. Wes rolled his eyes.<br/>"As if you weren't all thinking it," Ezra mumbled.<br/>In which Koh gives Kallie her jacket after a group project and people start treating her differently.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Post the chemistry quest, with Kallie and Koh and MC all doing a project together. This picks up immediately after the completion of the quest.  
> I'm so sorry.

"The truth is..." Kallie took a deep breath. "I have a crush on Koh."

* * *

Koh smelled like worn leather. Like the fireworks that lit up the night and the gunpowder that filled them. Like grease and motor oil and buffalo chicken wings.

A conglomerate of scents, ones that shouldn't have melded as well as they did, bombarded Kallie's senses. Koh's jacket was a bit too big for Kallie, puffing at the sleeves and too wide at the shoulders. It was warm and hung bulky and heavy on her shoulders, burdensome in a way that Kallie shouldn't have liked.

"Kallie? Are you okay?" MC asked, watching her with concern.

Kallie snapped out of her reverie, realizing she was dangerously close to shoving her nose in the collar of the jacket. "I am very well, thank you." Kallie adjusted her grip on her books, blushing down to her roots.

"Kallie, is this about-"

"No!" Kallie blurted. "I, er, I apologize." She huddled in closer to her jacket in embarrassment. Koh's jacket. Their jacket? "I assure you I didn't mean to cut you off."

"I mean..." MC grabbed the sleeve of Kallie's—Koh's—jacket and pulled her over to the side of the hallway. Their classmates flooded down the hallway around them. "I'm telling you," MC muttered when the worst of the crowd had passed. "If you let this sit it'll only be harder to deal with."

"If I let it sit perhaps it will go away," Kallie replied tartly. "I apologize," she gasped again.

"Kallie, it's okay to be upset." MC laughed. "Liking someone makes you feel uncomfortable, and it's not always in a good way. But it's so amazing to like someone like that. Especially if you do something about it."

Kallie fidgeted. "I wouldn't know what to say," she whispered, "or what to do."

"You think I ever know what I'm doing when I try to date someone?" MC said. They shook their head to themselves, smiling. "The beauty is in the spontaneity. And with Koh, you get a lot of that. Can you imagine how much fun you guys would have?"

The warning bell rang. Kallie jerked away abruptly, remembering where they were. "We should get to class."

MC frowned. "You have a free period."

"Yes, and you have History," Kallie hissed.

"Helping a friend is more important," MC insisted, leading Kallie down the hallway and out the door so they could sit at a picnic table outside. Other students lingered around, hanging out and screwing off. "No one will notice that I'm out here, and I can take the detention," MC continued.

Kallie sighed, taking a seat across from MC and lining her books up in a neat pile beside her on the bench. "You have a helping people complex."

"Guilty as charged," MC grinned, their face twisting up into that familiar smile that managed to make miracles happen every day. "Now, about Koh..."

Kallie looked down at her hands. "She probably doesn't even like me that way."

"How do you know?" MC tucked their chin into their hand and raised their eyebrows. That face had stolen so many hearts.

If only Kallie could have liked MC instead of the most hardcore girl at their school.

"I'm... me," Kallie intoned. "I am aware that I can be extremely reticent and perhaps off-putting with my, er, eloquence."

"Hey, Kallie," MC said. Kallie looked up; MC was smiling softly. "You say that like it's a bad thing."

"Yo." Kallie felt a touch on her shoulder. MC raised an eyebrow at the figure at Kallie's back. Kallie twisted around.

"...Hi?" Kallie questioned. A rebel stood behind her, back straight, sunglasses perched on his nose, unshaven and wearing big leather boots.

"Hey." The rebel sat down on the top of the table, thigh beside Kallie's arm. Kallie shot MC a concerned glance.

"Hey, I know you!" MC chirped into the awkward silence. "We have History together!"

Kallie rested her forehead on her hand.

"Yup," the rebel replied. He pulled up the sleeves of his jacket, revealing snake tattoos twisting up his forearms. He settled onto the table like he belonged there, Kallie and MC and the rebel. Kallie had gotten over many of the biases instilled in her since she was a child, homeschooled and terrified of everyone, but rebels still sent a gush of fear down her spine. Blowing off school, smoking in the parking lot, throwing wild, outrageous parties that ended with the police on their way, everything about rebels made Kallie nervous as heck.

Including Koh, but she knew Koh. She had no idea who this guy was.

"How's it hangin'?" the rebel asked, leaning slightly into Kallie's space. The smirk on his face turned into a genuine smile.

"I am adequate, thank you," Kallie replied. "And yourself?" She managed to keep the tremor out of her voice.

"Chill." The rebel smirked again. "MC, how's that motorcycle race coming?"

"On the down low," MC replied drily. "But I don't think now's the best time to discuss it."

"Cool." Someone shouted what sounded like a swear word in the distance. The rebel pulled his sleeves down, leapt off the table. "Nice talking to ya." He waved at MC and, wonder of wonders, took Kallie's hand and kissed it. Kallie turned red as a beet as he turned and took off down the grass.

"That was... odd," MC commented. Kallie just frowned. What could he have wanted from her?

"You should get to class," Kallie said.

"But Koh..." MC cut themselves off. "I mean, rebels seem to like you." A satisfied smile appeared on their lips.

"Oh, give me some time to ponder," Kallie replied. "I promise you I won't rule it out."

"Sounds good." MC chuckled, and clambered off the bench to stand. "Think I'll hit up the vending machine on my way back."

"You do that."

* * *

Kallie barely made it to English on time, but as she rushed down the aisles to her seat a hacker offered her a fist bump and a street artist gave her a nod. Kallie made it through the class and left toting lots of anxiety and a confusing set of emotions.

Her friends all sat in the cafeteria, sometimes together, sometimes with their respective groups. People came and went as they wished. Kallie had heard horror stories about other schools where people were stuck in their own groups and excluded from other ones, but she had yet to see that happen. Sure, there were the bad apples here and there, but normally someone, specifically MC, would get in between the conflict and work wonders.

Today, Payton, Mia, Wes, Ezra, and Nishan were sitting at what Wes coined 'the squad table.' The others were scattered around at different tables that day.

Kallie was approaching their table when someone shouted her name across the room. In the center of the rebel tables, Koh sat, like a queen in black lipstick and leather jeans holding court. Kallie looked over in time to see Koh wave at her. Kallie tried not to blush. Koh had never acknowledged her this individually or this publicly. It made her feel like they had a connection. She shyly waved back. At Koh's side, the rebel from earlier pumped his fist. A punk rock stopped her machinegun guitar riffs and tipped the instrument's neck, only continuing her medley when Kallie sat at 'the squad table.'

What was going on?

"So..." Mia's eyes lit up. "Anything you wanna tell us?"

"What do you mean?" Nishan asked, looking up from measuring the width of his pizza slice. "What could she want to tell us?" Mia shot him a look that was either 'you idiot' or 'I don't even wanna know what you're doing' or maybe a mixture of both. Mia was hard to read.

Nishan swiftly cast his eyes back down to his food.

"Nothing, really," Kallie responded. She opened her lunch bag. "Our chemistry project went well."

"Clearly," Wes muttered, a sly gleam in his eyes as he surveyed Kallie's clothing choice. Mia kicked him under the table. Wes cursed.

"Language," Payton and Kallie chimed together. Wes rolled his eyes.

"As if you weren't all thinking it," Ezra mumbled. Wes bumped Ezra's shoulder with his own.

As with most things Wes and Ezra did, Kallie let it roll off her back and moved on.

* * *

Kallie was, for lack of a better word, a bit of a klutz. She did her best, but in the end sometimes her limbs got ahead of her. Today was one of those days.

And people were still talking to her about the chemistry project, which was only yesterday, but it befuddled Kallie all the same.

"Whoa!" Kallie fell to her knees when she missed the last step on the stairway. Koh's--her--jacket slipped down her arms, encasing her hands. Her books went flying. Kallie scrambled to gather them up, mortified.

But something strange happened.

A small army of people stopped to scoop up her books and papers, handing them off to her and going off on their way, and Kallie realized, flummoxed that they had all been wearing black.

A street artist handed her the last paper, leaving a smile and a whiff of spray paint in her wake.

Kallie was just lost. When had she become tight with the rebels?

She tightened the jacket around her body to fight off the chill of the fall and the anxiety.

* * *

Kallie had never been very social as a kid, but she'd been studiously working at that since starting in public school.

"Let's go to the mall!" Payton insisted, and so on Saturday Kallie went to the mall with Payton and Autumn.

"Should we invite anyone else?" Kallie asked carefully.

Payton and Autumn shared a look. "Who else would you want to invite?" Autumn asked.

"No one, I guess." Kallie looked at her feet.

"Well, here we are!" Autumn announced. "Which one do you want to hit up first?"

"Dry Sea Lion," Payton suggested. "Kallie, we should get you some clothes that match your jacket."

Kallie rubbed the leather collar between her fingers. She thought about the clothes she would need to match the jacket. She thought about what _Koh_ would think about the clothes she would wear to match the jacket.

"I'm in," Kallie expressed, surprising herself with how excited she felt. "Let's go for it!"

Payton and Autumn fluttered around, bickering over cuts and styles and prices. Occasionally one or the other would hold up something for Kallie's input, she would offer her positive opinion, and they’d fling the skirt or dress or jeans or top into her arms. She hadn't felt this overwhelmed since she first realized her attraction to Koh.

Other people lingered around, perusing the racks of clothing. Some of them where their classmates. Kallie turned her eyes away carefully.

Just when Kallie thought she wouldn't be able to hold another garment, Autumn and Payton got her into a dressing room.

"Are you going to model for us?" Autumn asked as Kallie pulled graffiti print jeans up her legs.

"Most assuredly."

"Hang on, I think I see Sakura-"

"What? Where are you going?" Kallie demanded. She yanked a black crop top over her head and turned to look in the mirror. 'Lil Princess' was written across her chest in gold glitter. Along the back of the shirt there was a cut out with laces going horizontally across her back. Kallie yanked open the door. "Hey-"

Payton and Autumn were nowhere to be seen. Instead there was a scowling teenage girl with a high ponytail. Ah, Kallie had heard of this girl. Kara.

"Oh, hey, are you one of MC's little friends?" Kara sneered the second she laid eyes on Kallie.

"Leave her alone!" Payton snapped. Kallie slunk back into her dressing room while Payton yelled at Kara until she left.

"Sorry about that," Autumn sighed. "She can be... really difficult."

"It's okay," Kallie whispered, taking deep breaths to calm herself down.

"And hey, you look great!" Autumn cried, physically pulling her out of the dressing room so Payton could see her.

"Omigod, perfect!" Payton squealed, whipping out her phone to snap a photo. "Try on another one!"

Thirty minutes and eighteen outfits later, the trio left the store weighed down by their heavy bags.

"I've never shopped this much in my life," Kallie whined when they reached the mall coffee shop.

"Let me buy you something," Payton said. She produced her wallet from her purse. "What do you want?"

"Something mocha, please," Kallie said.

"I'll have to look at the menu," Autumn put in. "I'll come with you to the counter."

"M'kay," Payton approved. "Kallie, guard our bags, okay?"

"Okay."

And then Kara walked into the coffee shop.

"Hey, freak," Kara snapped. Kallie averted her gaze. "What happened, did your parents finally let you out of your cage?"

Kallie felt tears spring in her eyes. "What do you want?" She couldn't look at Kara. If she did, she would cry...

Kara glared. "Justice."

"Are you actually kidding me?" someone snapped. Kallie dared to look up to the speaker.

A goth girl, complete with spider earrings, strode right up to Kara. At her side in an instant was a punk rock guy and a hacker girl.

"What do you want, losers?" Kara demanded, but she took a half-step back. She was clearly outnumbered.

The punk rocker told Kara to do something that made Kallie cover her mouth in shock. The goth girl twisted her spiked bracelet thoughtfully around her wrist. The hacker girl was tapping away on her phone.

"What was your last name again?" the hacker girl asked as she looked up at Kara sweetly. Her phone buzzed and she peered at her phone. "Oops, never mind. Got it. You might want to change your password." She snorted. "I mean, really?" She set down her phone with a satisfied smile. Kara's cheeks went red.

"You might wanna think twice next time you want to threaten her," the goth sighed before Kara could speak, looking down at her fingers. As they all watched, she lowered her finger onto one of the spikes and pulled it away to show a trickle of blood.

The punk rocker repeated his two-word order.

"Ugh, fine." Kara fled with all the grace befitting a weasel. Kallie sat transfixed.

"If she ever bothers you again-" the punk rocker cracked his knuckles.

"-you know who to talk to." The goth finished, already fishing a band-aid out of her purple fringe bag. She gave Kallie a significant quirk of her lips, but Kallie had no idea what the significance was.

"Sorry we took so long, there was a mess up on the pricing-" Autumn explained.

"Hey Kallie, you look shaken," Payton commented when she and Autumn returned from ordering. "You good?"

How had they not noticed? Kallie gulped. The punk rocker gave her a cheery thumbs up from across the coffee shop. "I'm fine."

* * *

Koh was sitting at their lunch table on Monday when Kallie arrived. A clubber had offered to teach her to dance today, and several of the auto club members had introduced themselves to her. Those she had met greeted her with waves from across the tables.

When Koh saw her, she pushed Julian aside to make room for Kallie to sit beside her. Not far enough, though, as Koh and Kallie ended up sitting thigh to thigh.

"Hey," Koh purred. Kallie nearly dropped her lunch as her heart fluttered in her chest.

"Hello," Kallie replied, more conscious than ever of Koh's jacket on her shoulders.

The jilt in the conversation at Kallie's arrival abruptly faded away when Ezra started a conversation about the merits of hip hop versus rock.

"How are you doing?" Koh's eyes were at half-mast. Was Koh... flirting with her? Kallie could barely catch her breath.

"I'm fine, thank you," Kallie replied. She peeled open her yogurt and licked the lid. "Although..." she added, setting the lid aside, "Some weird things have been happening." She looked up into Koh's eyes.

Koh was wearing an expression Kallie hadn't seen before, eyes glazed over and her mouth slightly agape. Was Koh… staring at her mouth? "...Uh," Koh seemed to recalibrate. "Fu- What kind of weird things?"

"Rebels..." Koh's eyes narrowed at Kallie's words. "They're being really, er, pleasant to me." Kallie took a sip of her milk.

The raging inferno in Koh's eyes died back down to its normal embers. "Good." Koh took a bite of her hamburger. "They'd better be."

"Why?" Kallie asked, fiddling her thumbs. "Did you tell them to be kind to me?"

Koh stared at her for a second, then laughed. Kallie flushed. "You don't know?" Koh muttered, so only Kallie could hear.

"Pardon me," Kallie retorted, "But I don't understand why everyone seems to understand what's going on when I haven't the slightest idea, and when I ask no one is forthcoming with me!"

Koh leaned forward right into Kallie's space, a wicked smile adorning her face. "When a rebel gives someone their jacket, it's kind of a... claim," Koh murmured into Kallie's ear.

"A... a claim?" Kallie turned to stare into Koh's dark eyes. They were almost nose to nose. Somehow her eyes seemed darker than usual. "You mean..."

"According to what some may refer to as 'the rebel code'-" Koh chortled, "-you're mine, yes. If they've been bothering you, it's because they're getting to know you."

"Are you serious?"

"It's for real." Koh rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "We're kind of pack animals, sometimes. We protect our own. And you're mine." Koh's eyes flashed. "Sorry, I just thought I'd test it out."

"What? Having people think I'm yours?" Kallie inquired. She was smiling, when did she start smiling?

"I've liked it. Have you?" And Kallie saw the fear flash in Koh's face as Koh's arm gingerly wrapped around her shoulders.

Kallie felt her cheeks tinge red, as they were wont to do. "Yes," she whispered. Feeling bold, she pushed her mouth up to Koh's ear. "I've liked it a great deal."

Koh hummed. "I love that answer." Koh turned her head to bury her nose in Kallie's hair, then moved again to kiss her cheek.

"You know," Kallie muttered as their friends continued to pointedly ignore them, "I actually went shopping the other day..."

Koh's arm gathered at Kallie's waist, yanking her impossibly closer. "Yeah?"

"Mm-hm." Kallie leaned on Koh's shoulder. "Maybe I'll show you later?" Kallie tried to not allow her voice to squeak.

Koh cracked a vicious grin. Kallie _loved_ that grin. "Now, how about my _girlfriend_ and I ditch class next period so I can take her on a real date?"

"You have Math," Kallie contended weakly, unable to keep a smile from creeping up her face.

"You have a free period," Koh replied. "And I'm a rebel, sweetheart, it's what I do."

Kallie laughed. "I know." She leaned her head on Koh's shoulder. "I… I love it."

 


	2. Cut Short

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kallie and Koh almost get it on in the rebel hangout. Almost.

Nothing quite compared to the newness of it all. Kallie felt… glittery inside when Koh held her hand and left black lipstick marks on the inside of her wrist. Koh liked to have Kallie right beside her during lunch, and sometimes Koh would put her hand on Kallie’s bare thigh and lean in close for a kiss.

All their togetherness had pushed them into each other’s atmosphere, and Kallie found herself spending more and more time at the rebel hangout in the week of the beginning of their relationship.

Today, all had left but just the two of them. They were on the couch, Kallie’s legs in Koh’s lap, sprawled around. On the TV was the six-hour version of  _ Pride and Prejudice _ , which Koh had forced her grumbling friends to watch with them because Kallie wanted to. Koh did things like that, opening her group to Kallie’s interests, and in return Kallie was doing her best to meet them in interaction and media.  _ Pride and Prejudice _ , however, was something Kallie would not budge on. And to her delight, a rebel with three tattoos on his arm had laughed along to the old-timey humor.

The couch they lay on was ancient leather, and it smelled like Koh, but that may have just been due to the fact that Kallie was donning Koh’s also leather jacket.

Koh smirked at something Mr. Darcy had said and leaned forward to grab Kallie’s hips and drag her in for a kiss.

“Hey, sexy,” Koh said with a wicked smile when they broke apart, both of them panting. Her fingerless gloves brushed against Kallie’s thighs. Kallie inhaled sharply, but nodded at Koh to let her know all was well.

When Koh slid her hands up Kallie’s skirt, Kallie gasped. Koh sucked on the side of Kallie’s neck as she moved her gloved hands up and down Kallie’s skin.

“C’mon, princess.” Koh wriggled so that she lay on her back, Kallie sprawled on top of her. Her hands remained on Kallie’s legs, steadily moving upward. Koh kissed her again and Kallie felt so good-

“Hey guys, whoa okay, wow, I, um-” Kallie whirled around and there stood MC, hands over their mouth and blushing a burning red. “I’m gonna…” MC pointed vigorously at the exit and began to take baby steps toward the door.

Koh sighed long and loud, still under Kallie, who was sitting on her lap at this point. “It’s alright, MC,” Koh said, though she sounded rather crabby. “Wanna watch  _ Pride and Prejudice _ ?”

“Uh… sure!” MC chirped.

Kallie clambered off of Koh, but remained close enough to pull Koh’s arm around her shoulders. MC approached the coach as though it were a bomb about to go off. When they saw that Kallie and Koh were still fully clothed, they let out a huff of relief and plopped down on the couch.

“Next time,” Koh muttered in Kallie’s ear.

Kallie smiled at her girlfriend. She couldn’t wait.

**Author's Note:**

> Poorly written, unedited, pure, unadulterated fluff... I'm so sorry.  
> Kinda wanna write some sequel smut though.


End file.
